A Critical Discourse Analysis of Covid-19 in Iranian and American Newspapers

Abstract

The policies and ideologies of countries are reflected in the propagated media of that country, and newspapers are no exception. Covid-19 has affected the lives of people all around the world. The present study investigated the ideological differences in reporting the news related to Covid-19 in light of Van Dijk’s ideological square framework. To do so, a representative sample of 56 news articles was chosen over a period of one year (from January 2020 to the end of January 2021) from one Iranian and one American newspaper, the Tehran Times and The New York Times. Overall, 2,977 clauses were analysed both qualitatively, to find out the reason of occurrence, and quantitatively, to determine the frequency of occurrence for each micro-strategy. Evidentiality, Hyperbole, Metaphor, National Self-Glorification, Negative Lexicalisation, and Number Game were the most frequent micro-strategies. Such high frequencies of the strategies can make for effective discursive apparatus to make readers believe what news articles claim is true. The most salient implication of this study would be raising readers’ and academics’ awareness of the need to view news articles critically to avoid negative ramifications of ideological propagandas. In the same vein, newspapers need to be cognizant of the micro-strategies they consciously or sub-consciously employ since certain micro-strategies can be used to manipulate readers’ minds and help news agencies to feed their readers certain ideological and political agendas. Keywords Covid-19; Critical Discourse Analysis; Ideological Micro-strategies; Newspapers; Van Dijk

Ideology representation in the editorial of Koran Tempo and Kompas on COVID-19 handling in Indonesia

“…Our results also suggest that Koran Tempo does not always present a positive attitude toward government policies. This finding supports the study from Dezhkameh et al (2021), primarily on the mainstream media's attitude in reporting the government policies related to COVID-19 handling. That study concludes that the mainstream media has the right to oppose government policies.…”

“…Koran Tempo with its investigative subtlety was assumed to seek for the primary subject of Indonesian COVID-19 handling, while Kompas that prioritizes the aspect of balance was presumed to evade the aspect of the subject. Dezhkameh et al (2021), focusing on the ideological difference of Tehran Times from Iran and The New York Times from the United States of America in disclosing COVID-19 issues. The results signify that quantitatively those newspapers mostly use micro strategy to manipulate the readers' minds in COVID-19 matters.…”

“…This context difference may implicate different results. Second, this study also has a different context from a study carried out by Dezhkameh et al (2021) that compared newspapers from Iran and the United States of America, two mainstream media that emphasizes the COVID-19 relevant policies. Meanwhile, this present study uses the Indonesian context.…”

A Discourse Analysis of Online Newspaper Reports on COVID-19 in Nigeria

“…Language has been described as human vocal noise (speech) or the arbitrary graphic representation (writing) of this noise, used systematically and conventionally by members of speech community for purposes of communication (Osisanwo, 2003, p.1). Researchers often view language as a form of social practise that directly and indirectly influences the social world (Johnson & McLean, 2020) cited in Dezhkameha, Layegh and Hadidib, (2021). Language clearly is a human phenomenon as seen in this description.…”

“…Yule (1983), quoted by Osisanwo (2003), states that the analysis of discourse is the analysis of language in use. Halliday and Matthiessen (2014), in Dezhkameha, Layegh and Hadidib (2021), describe discourse analysis as having its roots in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), which is mainly concerned with choices made by writers as well as the ones not made. All word choices matter and make a difference.…”